Biblical Truth: Humanity properly relates to God by
being in awe of Him and by obeying His commands, foremost of which is to love Him
supremely.

View God Correctly
(Ecclesiastes 3:10-14)

[10] I have seen the task which God has given the sons of
men with which to occupy themselves. [11] He has made everything appropriate in
its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not
find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. [12] I
know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in
one’s lifetime; [13] moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in
all his labor – it is the gift of God. [14] I know that everything God does
will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take
from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him.[NASU].

The logic of these verses may be described as follows:

Our labor is a lifelong affliction with no eternal results
(10).

Yet every aspect of life is appropriate in its time and
should be accepted as such (11a).

But we long for eternity and cannot be content with time
alone (11b).

People prefer the joys of life to the sorrows (12).

But the ability to enjoy life is itself a gift of God and
thus under his control (13).

Only God’s work has the perfection and eternal worth for
which people long (14 a,b).

God uses time and mortality to humble the human race (14c).

The Preacher returns to the thought of 1:13, where he spoke
of the burden God had placed upon man, and explains further. Man needs to know
why his toil – indeed, his whole life – can be of some profit in a world beyond
his personal control. The problem is that the idea that there is a God who
orders all their “times” and “seasons” is a more perturbing threat to their
self-image than the concept that they are alone in a dying universe. Against
such practical atheism, the Preacher offers three answers in verse 11. (1)
Everything is appropriate in its time. The eye of faith sees the beauty in
God’s ordering of the times. The key to this perception is in the redemptive
purposes of God for his people. For every believer, the gracious purposes of
the Lord shine through the darkest passages of these times and, far from being
a source of gloom, these become a fount of encouragement and joy in the Lord.
(2) Eternity within. Being aware of our creaturehood carries with it a sense of
the reality of the Creator. The suppression of this consciousness of God is at
the core of sin and estrangement from God. (3) This unfathomable life. Even
though there is an awareness of eternity in our hearts, we cannot fully grasp
its meaning. Indeed, we even resist the pull of eternal and spiritual matters.
We look in the opposite direction for satisfaction. We imagine that secular
knowledge and carnal pleasure will answer our deepest needs. We look for
answers in the wrong places. How desperately we need to be found by the one
whom we do not seek (Isaiah 65:1). In verses 12-14, the Preacher uses two “I
know” statements where he affirms his most deeply held conclusions. First, life
is from God. Life is both a privilege and a pleasure for the friends of God.
The pursuit of God-centered and God-honoring happiness is a legitimate goal for
God’s people. It is God’s gift. And therefore it is our calling. Second, the
works of God endure forever. They are complete and we can neither add to, nor
subtract from, their ultimate perfection. Seeing how awesome his works are, men should fear Him. The practical
fruit of God’s sovereignty will be a worshipping people, exulting in the
security of their Savior-God.

Fear God
Obediently (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

[13] The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear
God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. [14] For
God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is
good or evil.[NASU]

These verses form the conclusion of the Preacher’s search
for meaning: fear God and keep His
commandments. It is very important to understand what it means to “fear
God”. Sinclair Ferguson has an excellent discussion of this topic in his book, The
Pundit’s Folly (it can also be found in his book, Grow in Grace,
chapter 3). I will attempt here to summarize his teaching on the fear of God.

The statement in v. 12 (Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man) acts as a goad to us. It makes us sit up; to
take notice. Here is the secret of life. Here is a fear which can deliver us
from all other fears. It is a powerful divine immunization which builds up
resistance in our hearts enabling us to reject and overcome the anxieties which
plague our lives and destroy our peace. But what is this fear? And how does it
make such a difference? The fear of God is not terror. Terror of God is the
reaction of guilt in the face of his holy power. It desires only to run from
him in despair. Through every aspect of his character God means to show us his
glory. This he loves to do more than anything else. Moreover, he loves his
people so much that he will let nothing stand in the way of them coming to
share in this glory. The person who sees this learns what it means to fear God.
It means to be filled with a sense of breathtaking awe at his character. It
means to realize with shame that although we have been made to live as his
image, we have forfeited by our sin our privileges and our destiny. It means
also that we have begun to realize the costly way in which he restores that
glory to us. The fear of God in some ways defies our attempts at definition,
because it is really another way of saying ‘knowing God’. It is a heart-felt
love for him because of who he is and what he has done; a sense of being in his
majestic presence. It is a thrilling awareness that we have this greatest of
all privileges, mingled with a realization that now the only thing that really
matters is his opinion. To fear God is to be sensitive to both his greatness
and his graciousness. It is to know him and to love him wholeheartedly and
unreservedly. To fear God, to trust God, to love God, and to know God – these
are really one and the same thing. In fact, the fear of God about which the
Pundit speaks arises from the discovery of God’s love for us in our sin and
weakness. It is the sense of awe that results from the discovery that he knows
me through and through, means to destroy all that is sinful in me, and yet does
so because he loves me with an intensely faithful love. That stretches my mind
and emotions to their limit. At least, that is how fear is seen in the Bible.
It is those who fear the Lord who say, ‘His love endures forever’; it is only
those who confess their sinfulness who discover that ‘With you there is
forgiveness; therefore you are feared’ [Ps. 118.4; 130.4]. Often the poetic
spirit captures this best:

This is what Christians call ‘filial fear’. It is different
from ‘servile fear’, the terror of the slave who knows that his every wrong
move will bring punishment. ‘Filial fear’ is the reverential love which a child
has for his or her father. Thus the child who truly fears his or her father
gains greatest joy and pleasure in his presence, and knows great security. If
this ‘filial fear’ is the fear of God about which the Pundit enthuses, certain
questions press themselves on our attention. Why did he – and why do we – fear
it? What effect does it have? How can we come to experience it? The answer to
the first question is this: we try to evade the fear of God because we want to
make man great and God small. So long as the Pundit wanted to make ‘man the
measure of all things’, he had to try to reduce God to manageable (and
therefore non-fear-able) proportions. If we do not fear God we do not really
know God. For to know God is to be stunned by his presence. Then we learn that
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all true wisdom [Ps. 111.10; Prov.
9.10]. How is it that to fear God is ‘the whole of man’ as the Pundit says?
Because it brings meaning, purpose and significance to a life which otherwise
is ultimately brief, empty and meaningless. We have followed the Pundit’s
attempts to find satisfaction that would last: in the pursuit of knowledge, of
pleasure, of work, of success. How does the fear of God make a difference? When
we look at life ‘under the sun’, excluding God, something happens to our
understanding and our learning. We try to explain the world without reference
to the essential explanatory factor: God’s creating activity and his sustaining
presence. The result? An endless pursuit of learning which can never bring a
knowledge that satisfies [12.12]. That is what Paul calls a ‘futility’ in our
‘thinking’ [Eph. 4.17]. But the fear of God reverses this, placing him at the
center of our universe. He is at the center of life. We see everything in the
light of his creating and sustaining activity. Then things begin to make sense:
‘The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him’ [Ps. 25.14]. What
difference does the fear of God make? It transforms everything we do, no matter
how mundane, no matter how grand. How? Because it invests all work with the
higher dimension of honoring God, seeking his glory, reflecting his character
as the Original Worker in everything we do. The fear of God gives us courage to
oppose what is wrong and do what is right, whatever the consequences. Because
we have this promise: ‘Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear
him have no lack!’ [Ps. 34.9]. But how can the child-like, loving fear of the
Lord be born and grow within us? Filial fear is a characteristic only of those
who have a filial relationship. You will never fear God until you know yourself
to be his child. It is, first of all, essential that, like the Pundit, you see
the truth about yourself and about your life: left to yourself, it will be
meaningless and empty. The reason? You have lost all spiritual life. You have
sinned against him and are actually under his judgment. Penitent faith involves
seeing the truth staring me in the face: my sins are not out-of-character
actions. They are revelations of the truth about my twisted, God-less heart.
Thus the first step in learning the filial fear of God is to be brought into
His family. God does this by his Spirit, in an act so sovereign and powerful
that the New Testament calls it a new creation, a new birth, a spiritual resurrection.
If the wisdom and knowledge of God has already become part of our life, a
further question needs to be answered here. How can we grow in the fear of the
Lord? Here are the biblical counsels we need to follow: (1) Use the helps God
has given: worship with the family of God, prayer, the exposition of Scripture,
the ongoing disciplines of a fellowship of God’s people, the physical signs he
gives – baptism and the Lord’s Supper – to mark you out as his and to encourage
you in faith. How do these help us? They keep our eyes fixed on God’s glory.
(2) Value the friendship and fellowship of others who fear the Lord. (3)
Reflect on the providence of God in life. (4) Learn to live in the shadow of
the cross of Christ. Here is a deep awe and fear of the Lord; but here, too, is
the joy of forgiveness. At the cross of Christ both faith and fear begin and
grow.

Love God Supremely
(Mark 12:28-34)

[28] One of the scribes came and heard them
arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment
is the foremost of all?” [29] Jesus answered, “The foremost is, Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is one Lord; [30] and you shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all
your strength. [31] The second is this, you shall love your neighbor as
yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” [32] The scribe
said to Him, “Right, Teacher; you have truly stated that He is one and; there
is no one else besides Him; [33] and to love Him with all the heart and with
all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as
himself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” [34] When Jesus
saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “you are not far from
the kingdom of God.” After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more
questions.[NASU]

29-31 For Jesus the whole Law is summarized in the
will of God which calls for the love which is a whole-hearted response to God
and to the neighbor. Jesus combines a quotation of Deut. 6.4-5 with Lev. 19.18.
Mark alone reports that Jesus introduced his answer with the opening words of
the Shema which was used by the pious Jew as a prayer and confession of faith
every morning and evening. They indicate that the command to love God is an
obligation which stems from his uniqueness as God and his gracious favor in
extending his covenant love to Israel. It is the Lord our God who is to be
loved with a completeness of devotion which is defined by the repeated ‘all’.
Because the whole man is the object of God’s covenant love, the whole man is
claimed by God for himself. To love God in the way defined by the great
commandment is to seek God for his own sake, to have pleasure in him and to
strive impulsively after him. Jesus demands a decision and readiness for God,
and for God alone, in an unconditional manner. Clearly this cannot be the
subject of legal enactment. It is a matter of the will and action. The love
which determines the whole disposition of one’s life and places one’s whole
personality in the service of God reflects a commitment to God which springs
from divine Sonship. This commitment finds expression in a similar commitment
to mankind. A whole-hearted love for God necessarily finds its expression in a
selfless concern for another person.

Questions for Discussion:

1.What three answers concerning the
meaning of life does the Preacher offer in 3:11?

2.What conclusions does the Preacher make
with the two “I know” statements in 3:12 and 3:14?

3.Discuss the questions that Ferguson
raises concerning fearing God.

Why do we fear “the fear of God”?

What effect does the fear of God
have on us?

How is it that to fear God is “the
whole duty of man”?

How can this “filial fear” of God be
born in us?

How can we grow in the fear of the
Lord?

4.Ecclesiastes 12:13 instructs us to
“fear God” while Mark 12:30 commands us to “love the Lord your God”. How does
“fear” and “love” relate to each other? John Murray writes: “The fear of God
and the love of God are but different aspects of our response to him in the
glory of his majesty and holiness (Principles of Conduct, p. 242). Does
the fear of God and the love of God mean the same thing?

5.Why is love for our neighbor a
necessary expression of our love for God? In the July, 2005 issue of Tabletalk,
John Jefferson Davis writes: “The command to love your neighbor is in itself
inherently related to the image of God, since equal respect for the person,
despite differences of social and economic status, is ultimately based on the
presence of the divine image in all people.” Do you agree that the image of God
is the basis for the command to love our neighbor?

References:

The Pundit’s Folly, Sinclair Ferguson, Banner of
Truth Trust.

Ecclesiastes, Gordon Keddie, Evangelical Press.

Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Duane Garrett,
The New American Commentary.